


Like a thief in the night

by MintChocolateLeaves



Category: Magic Kaito, Persona 5, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Crossover with Persona 5, Drabble Length Chapters, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-02-13 16:35:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12988053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MintChocolateLeaves/pseuds/MintChocolateLeaves
Summary: Kaitou 1412,The great sinner of greed. You have lost yourself amidst your obsession with that which shines.For it’s sake, you’re willing to commit heinous crimes and cross police forces.We will steal your heart.[Several oneshots set in the Persona 5 world.]





	1. Chapter 1

The calling card is across the internet in minutes.

It’s almost laughable as Kaito looks down at the card in his hand, cut out newspaper clippings pasted to card. It’s an amateurs job, something that he can’t help but feel disappointed in.

Even if it’s a message for him.

The calling card had been left beside his latest target, an amethyst that hadn’t been Pandora, but had been stunning enough that stealing it had been worth it. He’d been ready to leave the card behind, but then he’d noticed the red undertones, his name written at the top of the card.

Well – not his  _real_ name, but Kaitou KIDs.

Now, it sits in white gloved hands as he watches police cars beneath him. His cape flutters in the wind, outward, but he hardly seems to notice. Not even when a gust of wind tugs it backward and Kaito needs to adjust his sitting position to ensure he doesn’t fall ten stories to his death.

Instead, he feels his lips tug upwards as he stares at the written message:

_Kaitou 1412,_

_The great sinner of greed. You have lost yourself amidst your obsession with that which shines._

_For it’s sake, you’re willing to commit heinous crimes and cross police forces._

_We will steal your heart._

_From,_

_The Phantom Thieves._

It’s a challenge Kaito’s ever heard one. He’s not received one since his mother played the role of Kaito Corbeau, and the entire premise is entertaining. He’s been following the news – he’d be a fool not to – and the idea of someone stealing his heart.

Kaito’s excited.

As far as he knows, all of the criminals who’ve received a calling card from the phantom thieves so far have come forward for their crimes within the following days. And there’s been no signs of anyone coming or going…

The idea of it…

Kaitou KID lets out a laugh. It’s long lasting, an overflow of noise that bursts into the air, accepting the challenge that’s been laid against him. It’s a concept that shouldn’t be possible and yet someone’s clearly expecting to win against him.

“Fine,” KID says to himself, standing from his perch to look down at the city below, “I’ll accept your challenge phantom thieves.”

He’s talking to the wind, but somehow, it feels almost as if the phantom thieves are capable of hearing him.

“From one phantom thief to a group of you,” KID says, dipping his hat forward, pushing the calling card into one of his pockets, “I wish your heist succeeds.”

He lets out another laugh, and within a flash of light, Kaito jumps from his perch.

(Across the city, four detectives feel a chill.)

_(Inside a palace, the security reaches 100% awareness.)_


	2. Chapter 2

They’d spent weeks scoping the palace out.

Hakuba had spent so long convincing them to take KID on, especially since theft wasn’t quite serious enough for the potential risks of stealing a heart, but eventually they’d relented. Even now, stood with a mask obscuring his vision, Shinichi isn’t completely sure why they’ve branched away from murderers.

“Come on,” Hattori says, looking back at them. He’s impatient – maybe because he’s been waiting for Shinichi to make his appearance alone with Hakuba. Maybe because he knows there are more important palaces to explore.

“Okay, okay,” Shinichi says, upping his pace to meet him outside of the building. Kaitou KIDs palace – even now, Shinichi isn’t sure what to think about it. “Calm down.”

“The palace is on high alert,” Hakuba says, arms crossed as he looks over his shoulder at bright beams of light that scour the area. “Even if we avoid impatience, we should be anything but calm.”

Shinichi understands what he means. They can’t get docile – not with someone as elusive as KID. Not when they’re working to a time limit, trying to steal something from a living phantom, someone who steals just as easily as he breathes air.

“Let’s go.”

Both Hattori and Hakuba offer him nods, falling into step behind him. For some reason or another, they’ve chosen him to lead them. So far, Shinichi’s tried his hardest not to lead them astray – even if he has had to keep secrets from them both.

So far, the secret’s remained; Inside the metaverse, an area where people’s desires are stored, capable of growing and twisting one’s heart, he can be himself. He can wear the body of Kudo Shinichi – the body that’s the same age as his mind, and not the one of Edogawa Conan.

The palace is difficult to breach.

Purely because it belongs to KID, and all the usual back entrances are blocked. They can’t go through the vents, or climb through the windows at the top of the building because that’s what  _KID_ would do, and so they’re completely secured.

In fact – there’s only really one way in, and it brings Shinichi nothing but anxiety.

The front entrance.

Shinichi glances between his fellow detectives – now thieves who steal hearts – and bites into his lip. He’s the one who’s sanctioned the plan, even if Hakuba was the one who’d pressed for its creation.

“It still freaks me out a little bit tho’,” Hattori says as they make their way indoors, trying to remain discreet. “This palace I mean. Who would o’ thought it’d be so…”

Hakuba offers a nod, scratches at the side of his mask. Blonde hair curls over the top of the white mask, and he brushes it back, runs his hand through his hair. He says, “it’s certainly strange. I’d been expecting something more fitting to a magician.”

Shinichi glances at the palace as they side step around the guards, plucking a key card from his pocket – access to the elevators procured, something they’ll need for their exit route.

“Is it really that strange?” He asks.

The palace is… when they’d put it into the metaverse app on their phones, they’d written  _‘show’,_ but the building is anything but that. It looks more like a museum, with exhibits set to each of KID’s magic acts. There are many things – many devices Shinichi recalls from heists – stored inside glass containers, signs explaining their uses.

And then there are the magic tricks themselves. Some of the instruments are available for the ‘public’ to use, like in a real museum, interactive to those who want to learn more. And yet – they never seem to work.

Every trick they’d tried had failed.

Shinichi isn’t sure how to feel about it. Hakuba had claimed it had been a trick, and attempt to show how detectives will never be able to perform magic, but Shinichi’s certain it’s something more. Something deeper.

“We need to get the treasure,” Shinichi says, words that bleed into the silence. He doesn’t want to talk about how scientific the palace seems, how it lacks any  _imagination._ It doesn’t fit to the personality of KID he’s developed up to this point. “His palace’s interior doesn’t matter. Think about it later.”

Still, it’s hard to stop thinking about it. He knows it’s hard for Hattori and Hakuba too.

“We’ve not seen the palace’s version of KID yet though,” Hakuba points out, once they’re past the entrance, making their way towards a room that’s labelled ‘no-entry’. “I think the palace’s interior is indicative of the version of KID we’ll meet, don’t you?”

Hattori’s grunt is both irritated and approving. He agrees, even if he doesn’t like being in a situation where he does.

“This place is also quite easy t’ navigate, once ya know th’ pattern,” Hattori continues, “it don’t match KID’s MO at all. He’s far more… devious than tha’ right?”

Shinichi nods. Yet another element of the palace that leaves him feeling… put off. There’s something definitely odd about this palace and it’s bringing nothing but dread trickling down his spine.

“Lets just get to the treasure room, okay?”

Both Hattori and Hakuba nod, speeding up to follow his footsteps as they pass hang-gliders and card guns, racing past capes and hats. It’s only when they reach a room filled with gems that they realise they’re nearing the end.

“Almost there,” Shinichi says, once they’ve ducked into a safe room to take a breather. They’ve just passed rubies and amethysts, some Shinichi recognises from the heists he’s attended as Conan. “The plan is ready, right? For the treasure?”

Hakuba glances down at his watch. Hattori scratches behind his ear, checks his phone for the real worlds time.

“We’re ready.”

.

The treasure room is small.

It’s the size of a classroom, so it’s not exactly  _small._ For a treasure room though, it’s the smallest Shinichi has ever seen. Before they’d sent the calling card, it’d been absent of anything, just a huge ball of unformed treasure in the middle of the room.

There had been no safety precautions. No guards watching over it.

KID obviously hadn’t worried over anyone stealing his treasure, and even stepping in now, the worry isn’t their still. Maybe he thinks he’s the only thief bold enough to walk through the front entrance. Or maybe he simply thinks his name is enough to deter them.

It’s difficult to see it now that it’s manifested, it’s small. Shinichi paces forward, gaze scanning everywhere for any newly installed safety features. There’s none.

“I’m surprised it’s been this easy,” Hattori mutters under his breath, as if he doesn’t remember that they’ve not finished yet and their plans still have the capability of falling apart.

Hakuba offers the Osakan a glare.

“I can see it.” Shinichi says, and he reaches forward, fingers outstretched at the treasure before him. He’d been expecting to see a gemstone, or one of KID’s devices. Instead, there’s just a photo frame.

He goes to pick it up, ready to move it so that he can see into the frame and not just at the glare around it.

“Don’t take it.”

The voice does not belong to any of them. It wobbles, emotional and Shinichi turns, expectant to find KID in his white suit, some deranged version of him standing in front of him.

Instead he finds a child, only a little bigger than he is as Conan. And yet, even without the suit, there’s something about him that screams to his identity.

“Please,” the child version of Kaitou KID whispers, tears in his eyes, “ _you can take anything else but that.”_


	3. Chapter 3

Shinichi doesn’t know how to react to the sight in front of him. A child, young at that, is the true form within KID’s distorted heart?

It’s not possible.

They’ve been changing the hearts of criminals, of people spurred by dark desires, by those unwilling to change by themselves. And now he’s stood opposite a  _child?_

How is he supposed to respond to something like that?

He doesn’t know.

“Please,” KID says now, eyes bright with unshed tears, “don’t take it.”

He rushes forward, past Hattori and Hakuba, ignoring their shocked expressions, before coming to a stop in front of Shinichi. He leans down, scoops up the treasure keeping his palace from crumbling in on itself and holds it close to his chest, as if it truly is the thing keeping such a distorted heart beating.

In the past, Shinichi’s seen treasures in the form of trophies, money stashes and jewels, but never once a photo frame. He needs to know what’s on it. And in for that… will they even be able to finish the heist today?

“Kuroba…” Hakuba says, shocking Shinichi from his thoughts. Is that a… identity, a surname they can track him down with? Why hadn’t the blonde offered it before, they could have kept with usual investigations like they’d  _agreed._  “What…?”

KID – or Kuroba, although it’s odd to add a name to him after referring to him by his nickname, - turns to Hakuba. His eyes, wide before, are glassy, almost as if he’s not fully able to hear them.

“I can’t let you take him away,” KID says, arms stiff around the photo frame, “it’s the only thing I’ve got left of him. The magic tricks…”

Hattori crosses his arms. From the way his lips are pursed, he’s growing impatient. Pretty soon, he’ll attempt to grab the photo frame, even if it means harming the version of KID standing in front of them now.

Shinichi can’t let the other detective’s impatience create such a huge risk. They need to get the treasure and leave before they cause KID any harm. After all, if they harm this version of him, the real Kaitou 1412 could suffer a mental shutdown, or even worse: Death.

“The magic tricks didn’t work,” Hakuba says, speaking before Shinichi can find the words, “only magicians can perform magic right?”

“They keep failing,” KID looks at them now, and there are tears, more than he’d ever expected, “all of the magic tricks I could ever try and there are none that’re capable of bringing him back.”

Shinichi’s breath hitches in his throat, “bring who back?”

Beside him, KID trembles. He’s shudders, almost as if caught by the wind and blown away with each gust.

Across from them both, Hakuba – perhaps the only one to have the full understanding as to what KID’s talking about – lifts a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. He let’s out a sound that’s half cry, half groan.

“His father.”


	4. Chapter 4

_“His father.”_

Shinichi doesn’t know how to react to the revelation. First he's left with a child as a palace ruler, and now – now to find out the reason behind his distorted desires is to see his father again.

God – this sort of palace is cruel. Well and truly… unfair.

KID continues to stare up at him with wide eyes, a tremble to his lip. There’s an innocence to him here, that Shinichi has never seen during their previous meetings.

If they steal his treasure, what exactly are they stealing? Because his distorted desires are not based from stealing but a person’s death. A loss he’s never recovered from.

“Give it back,” KID says, stepping forwards, holding his hand out to take the photograph back. Now that Shinichi can make it out, it’s a man holding the child version of KID up to the camera.

They’re both smiling.

Shinichi is not as good a thief as KID is, because this is one thing he really doesn’t want to steal. _Can’t bring himself to steal._

“Ya left some information ou’ Hakuba,” Hattori mutters to the side, “might o’ been real fuckin’ useful for ya to have told us.”

Hakuba crosses his arms. “It didn’t seem relevant.”

Shinichi sends him a glare, “Oh didn’t it? Because right now it seems like we’re stealing a picture frame from a child!”

Across from them, KID sniffs, wipes away at his eyes.

“He’s a thief,” Hakuba continues, “and the contents of his palace shouldn’t matter. We need to get the treasure out of here so his distorted desires are put at bay.”

He has a point. Shinichi knows he does, and yet something about this doesn’t seem right. Will this change anything with KID’s thefts? This palace is bred from the death of a father, not from greed.

“Fine,” Shinichi mutters – erasing palaces is always good, and maybe it’ll help KID. They’ve already come so far, it’s not like they can just quit after all this work. “But Hakuba, we will talk about this later.”

Hakuba nods.

“So, you’re really going to take it?” KID says from behind them. Quieter now, voice filled with a bitter venom that Shinichi practically _chokes on._ “I thought you were meant to be the good guys.”

“We are,” Shinichi says, putting the photo frame into one of his pockets. He lets out a sigh, “you just can’t see it.”

KID scoffs. “Oh, I see a lot. And you guys aren’t the good guys. _Trust me.”_

Shinichi shudders at the expression.

“I’m sorry.” Shinichi mutters, as they make their way out of the treasure room.

KID doesn’t chase after them.


	5. Chapter 5

Saguru waits for it. For the confirmation that KID has finally seen the error in his ways, will admit to the crimes he’s committed like those who’s heart’s they have stolen in the past.

And yet, for a while, nothing really changes. Kuroba doesn’t seem to have any drastic change in himself, not at first, which leaves Saguru reeling because,  _well, they’d stolen his distorted desires._

Has he been wrong about Kuroba this whole time? Could he have actually made an error in his deduction. Is Kuroba actually Kaitou KID? No - he must be. The treasure they’d stolen is proof enough: A photograph depicting Kuroba Toichi and his son.

So now, Saguru is just confused. And nervous, because,  _well,_ now he needs to explain things to Hattori and Kudo. And that’s not exactly going to be fun. They’re already a little bit angry, because he’s left things out, and Saguru knows that their frustrations will only fester in the time it takes for them to meet up together again.

But he will explain when he next sees them. He’ll have the explanation all scripted out in his head when they next meet in a few days. Hattori’s returned to Osaka, and Kudo only ever meets them in the cognitive world, so there’s no chance of catching the two of them until they’re ready to meet.

Resigning himself for the long game, Saguru can only wait for something to happen.

_And it does._

The next day, after all the initial ‘okay’ days, Kuroba Kaito does not come in to class. Saguru sends a message to his group chat - surely this is the change of heart they are awaiting - and lets his fellow detectives know.

A week passes before Kuroba comes back.

When he does, he’s quiet.

The lack of sound around him is unnerving, not only to Saguru, but to their entire class. They’re used to seeing Kuroba filled with energy, bursting with conversation or fiddling with some obscure gadget that will eventually turn up at one of his heists.

As if to make the class more unsettled, Kuroba doesn’t create  _magic_ for the entire day. It’s his trademark, and the absence of it leaves Nakamori frowning, concern lacing her voice like sugar.

The most unnerving part to the day however, is when a shadow falls across Saguru’s desk. The thief himself looms over him, expression wide and nervous, like that of a spooked deer. Kuroba whispers, “hey, can you spare a minute?”

Saguru, not knowing how this will turn out, but knowing it must be some change of heart, offers a short nod. This is what he’s been waiting for,  _right?_

“What is it?” He asks, as if he has no idea. They’re stood at the end of the school corridor, secluded from the rest of the school’s pupils.

“I wanted to-” Kuroba pauses, glances off to stare at nothing. For a moment, Saguru wonders if this is what happens to those who don’t steal distorted desires correctly, is the beginning of the mental breakdown. Then, his gaze refocuses on Saguru, trouble.

“You want to what?” Saguru asks, and then, prompting the thief, attempting to give him a push in the right direction: “confess?”

Kuroba opens his mouth to respond but falls short before he can say anything more. Something flashes across his eyes, but it’s too quick to be decipherable. It is easy, however, to pick up on the lightning storm of emotions flittering across his face.

“Kuroba?”

The thief’s lips pull down. And then, as he meets Saguru’s eyes, the thief slowly reels backwards, hands bunched into fists, lips curled. His gaze is built upon a glare, animosity that leaves Saguru burning.

Kaito glares.

_“Give it back.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is actually a plot to these drabbles, I promise.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back. Hopefully updates will be quicker.

Saguru takes a moment to think over the words. Not a long time - his brain whirs quickly enough that he knows he’s not at risk of letting the silence become uncomfortable, to become a  _confession._

For Kuroba to know that something has been taken from him… Does this mean that he feels differently? Is there an ache inside him, is he asking for his distorted desires back? Or - does he know that a treasure has been taken from his heart?

Does he know about the metaverse?

“I haven’t taken anything from you, Kuroba,” he says, because he hasn’t. Not in this world, only in the metaverse, and even then - they’d been reclaiming things, not taking them away. “There’s nothing to give back.”

Kuroba shakes his head, disbelief etched into his eyes. The glare fades, replaced by confusion as he says, “You took it, I know you took it.”

“I’ve taken nothing.”

“You sent that letter,” Kuroba insists, lip curled upwards into a snarl. The shift from confusion to anger and back again is too rapid, too much of a whirlwind to be considered healthy. “You labelled it to me, and you’ve  _stolen_  from me and I want it back. I know it was you.”

Saguru bites his lip, shakes his head and says, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Kuroba leans forward, grits his teeth. There are tears in his eyes, and he blinks them away, tries to wear the faux calm he usually does, but fails. More shifting emotions, things that Saguru can’t understand. This isn’t normal - this isn’t a change of heart, it’s a heart that is _confused._

“I trusted you,” Kuroba says, and the words cut into Saguru. It’s why he’d wanted to change Kuroba’s heart when they’d discovered KID had a palace - they might not admit it, but there is a trust between them, a strange sort of friendship that forms between a teenage thief and his detective classmate.

“I’ve not done  _anything.”_

“I  _saw you!”_  Kuroba cries. “You were meant to be the good guy, but you took it from me - you t-took my memory of… you stole from me and you betrayed my trust by doing it.”

Saguru recoils.

He shudders, feels ice clinking at his vertebrae, the corridor falling quiet, all sound disappearing except for those words. Because - there shouldn’t be any way. People don’t know what happens inside of their own palaces, not unless they go into the metaverse too.

And Kuroba was not there in the metaverse with them. Saguru is sure of it.

“I’ve physically taken nothing from you,” Saguru says, steady calm. He bites the inside of his cheek. “But- you couldn’t have been there Kuroba, you _weren’t there.”_

“So you admit to it?”

Saguru frowns. He says, “As a thief yourself, you know there’s no admitting to anything. But - we - I - can give it back. After class ends, we’ll find a way to give it back.”

Kuroba blinks. He says, “You better not be lying to me.”

“I’m not,” Saguru promises.

**Author's Note:**

> The author very much so enjoys comments.


End file.
